Apparatus for use in shoe manufacture



Sept. 2, 1969 4 Shets-$heet 1 Filed Nov. 8, 1967 'S p 2. 1969 H. A.BOD-DY 3,4 4,013

APPARATUS 1 0R USE IN SHOE MANUFACTURE Filed Nov. 8, 1967 v 4Sheets-Sheet 2 Sept. '2, 1969 H, A. DDY 3,464,073

APPARATUS FOR USE IN SHOE MANUFACTURE Filed Nov. 8, 1967 4 Sheets-Sheet3 Sept. 2, 1969 H. A. BODDY 3,464,073

APPARATUS FOR USE IN SHOE MANUFACTURE Filed Nov. 8, 19.67

4 Sheets-Sheet 4 United States Patent 3 464 073 APPARATUS FOR USE INSHOE MANUFACTURE Harold Albert Boddy, Leicester, England, assignor toRalphs Unified Limited, Leicester, England, a British US. or. 12 -543 9Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Apparatus for pro-heating an end partof a shoe upper comprising a heatable solid male die, a band of flexibleelastomeric material forming a cO-operating flexible female die andmeans for causing the flexible band to embrace the male die with theshoe upper on the latter by first gripping between the dies the end partof the shoe upper and then causing the flexible band to close in towardsthe sides of the male die. The flexible band is thereby caused to drawthe side parts of the shoe upper into intimate contact with the male dieafter first gripping the material at the end part of the shoe upper.

This invention is for improvements in or relating to apparatus for usein shoe manufacture and is concerned more particularly with theprovision of an apparatus for pro-heating shoe components prior to theperformance of a moulding or shaping operation. The term shoe is usedherein in a broad sense (wherever the context so permits) to include allforms of outer footwear.

Pre-heating apparatus with which the invention is concerned is employedin connection with a shoe end moulding or shaping machine to raise to arequired elevated temperature the shoe components which are to bemoulded immediately before their introduction to the moulding andshaping means of the machine. In known forms of pre-heaters of this kinddifliculties have been experienced in securing the required uniformpenetration of heat into the shoe components particularly requiring tobe heated, reliance having been placed on heated rigid male and femalemoulds to grip the required parts of assembled shoe components betweenthem. It is found that with such rigid moulds uniform all over contactwith the shoe components cannot satisfactorily be secured so that theheating effect is very prone to be uneven and in some casesinsuflicient. The heating effect is required mainly to activate adhesiveon, and soften a stiffening component interposed between, upper andlining materials and it is therefore important that substantiallyuniform heating is effected throughout the end parts of the shoeassembly. The invention seeks to provide means whereby more uniform andadequate heating can be applied to the shoe upper components.

In accordance with the invention there is provided apparatus forpre-heating an end part of a shoe upper comprising a solid male dieprovided with heating means, a co-operating flexible female die formedby a band of flexible elastomeric material, and means for causing theflexible band to embrace the male die with shoe upper material betweenthe dies, the interaction of the dies being such that the end part ofthe shoe upper interposed between the sides thereof is first grippedbetween said dies and then the flexible band is caused to close intowards the sides of the male die to draw the side parts of the shoeupper material into contact therewith. The band is arranged to be of awidth at least as great as to cover the part of the shoe upper to betreated and by reason of its flexibility and resilience it is caused to"ice assume a form complementary to the male die and press the uppermaterial at all parts embracing at least the end part of the male dieinto intimate all over contact therewith as well as into similar contactwith the flexible band. The flexible band is conveniently formed ofmaterial capable of withstanding heat and passing heat through it andmeans may be provided for applying heat to the upper material throughthe flexible band. The application of heat both from the inner male dieand the outer flexible band ensures a substantially uniform preheatingof the end part of the upper material and may conveniently operate toeffect some preliminary shaping thereof.

Conveniently the apparatus is organised to provide for relative movementbetween the male die and the flexible band for gripping and releasingupper material in the space between them, means being provided to effectrelative movement between the die and band for this purpose. It isadvantageous to arrange that the relative movement between the die andband is such that the end part of the shoe upper is gripped between themwhen the band first engages the shoe upper on the die and afterwardsportions of the band are caused to close in towards the sides of the dieand draw the lateral parts of the shoe upper material into intimatecontact with the die.

In a convenient construction the band is mounted so as to be movabletowards and away from the solid die and as viewed in plan is in the formof a loop having its ends anchored to movable carriers supported andguided on guide plates, such carriers being anchored at a positionremote from the ends of the band to a cross bar which is moved by powermeans endwise of the loop shape of the band. The power means may takethe form of a fluid pressure operated piston and cylinder device, forexample a pneumatic operating cylinder. The cross bar may be guided inits movements by a slide engaging in a slideway on a supporting baseplate.

The carriers positioned one at each si e may have guide pins or rollersengaging in slots in the guide plates which slots may be shaped so as toprovide an inward movement of the ends of the flexible band towards thelatter part of the clamping movement to close the band on to the solidmale die, thereby providing for the closing in movement above referredto after the end part of the shoe upper has been engaged firmly againstthe end parts of the male die. Provision may be made for a dwell in theoperation of moving the flexible band towards the die after the endparts have been engaged and before the side parts of the band are movedinwardly.

The foregoing and other provisions of the invention are incorporated ina convenient form of construction illustrated by way of example in theaccompanying drawings and about to be described with reference to thedrawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevation view of a pre-heater apparatus for amachine for moulding and lasting the heel end parts of shoes, with theparts shown in the open or loading position;

FIGURE 2 is a view similar to FIGURE 1 showing the parts in the fullyoperated or closed position;

FIGURE 3 is a side elevation view, partly in cross section, of the partsshown in the position of FIGURE 2; and

FIGURE 4 is a view corresponding to FIGURE 3 to illustrate amodification adapting the machine for preheating the toe end part of ashoe upper.

Referring firstly to FIGURES 1 to 3 the solid male die is indicated at10 being removably mounted on a fixed post 11, FIGURE 3, mounted at anappropriate position on a machine for moulding and lasting the heel endparts of shoes. The die 10 is shaped approximately to the heel end formof the shoes and may contain a heating device contained within it andenergized electrically. The flexible band forming the female die isindicated at 12, being attached at its ends to clamping plates 13 bymeans of clamping blocks 14, the parts 13 with 14 being mounted oncarriers 15 in the form of swinging arms pivoted at their opposite endsat 16 to a curved cross member 17. Advantageously the parts may beadjustable endwise of the carriers 15. The cross member 17 is mounted ina slide 18 which can move up and down along a slideway 19 secured to afixed support plate 30 bolted to a carrier bracket 21 which is securedto a fixed part of the machine. Spacers 22 are shown on the stems of thebolts securing the plate to the bracket 21. The plate 20 also forms amounting for a bracket 23 carrying a forwardly projecting post 24 at itsupper end providing a pivot mounting at 25 for the upper end of a fluidpressure operated cylinder 26, conveniently a pneumatic cylinder whichmay be of double acting type. The cylinder 26 may have a piston rod 27which is anchored at 28 to lug 29 on the cross member 17. Thus thepneumatic cylinder 26 provides power means for moving the cross membertogether with the arms 15 and flexible band 12 up and down to move theband 12 away from and towards the fixed male die 10.

The plate 20 has a bifurcated lower part providing depending arms 30 onthe lower parts of which there are supporting cam plates 31 and 32formed with oppositely arranged cam slots 33 and 34 which are engagedrespectively by rollers 35 on posts 36 fixed to the lower end parts ofthe arms 15. It will be seen that when the slide 18 is at the top of itstravel the rollers 35 will as shown in FIGURE 1 engage the upper ends ofvertical portions 33a and 34a of the cam tracks 33 and 34. In thisposition of the parts the flexible band 12 is in an open attitude asseen in FIGURE 1. As the slide 18 descends the curved rear part 12b ofthe flexible band 12 is brought into pres sure relationship with theback end of the male mould 10 whilst the side portions of the band arestill splayed apart. Afterwards the cam rolls 35 run into inwardlyturned end parts 33b and 34b of the cam tracks 33 and 34 bringing thelower ends of the arm towards one another and serving to close theflexible band 12 on to the sides of the male die 10.

The arms 15 are fitted with elecu'ical radient heating elementsindicated at 37 and consisting of tubular sheaths containing insulatedheaters energized through flexible leads 38, the tubular members beingshaped to extend to and fro as seen most clearly in FIGURE 3 to coversubstantially the Whole depth of the shoe upper to be heated, that is tosay substantially the whole width of the band 12. The heater elementshave loop portions 37a at the upper ends of the arms 15 with such loopportions curved inwardly as seen in FIGURES 1 and 2 to extend across theback part 12b of the band 12 in the general curved shape thereof.

In the operation of the apparatus so far described a shoe upper to bepre-heated in readiness for a moulding and lasting operation is placedwith its heel end part around the mould 10 with the parts in theposition of FIGURE 1. The heating element 37 is energized as well as theheating element contained in the male mould 10 so that heat istransmitted to the upper material partly from the inside and partly fromthe outside through the flexible band 12, and uniformly distributed tothe upper material so that the latter becomes effectively heated allover. The pneumatic cylinder 26 is then energised to move the slide 18downwardly to perform a complete stroke and in the first part of suchstroke the flexible band 12 is pressed against the heel end of the upperon the die 10. The heel end part is thus the first part of the uppermaterial to be gripped between the flexible band 12 and die 10 andafterwards the band 12 is caused to close in towards the sides of thedie 10 by engagement of the rollers in the intumed parts 33b and 34b ofthe cam slots 33 and 34. The side parts of the flexible band 12 are thenbrought into intimate contact with the sides of the shoe upper to pressthem against the sides of the die 10.

The flexible band 12 is conveniently made of a high performancesynthetic elastomeric material such as that known in the trade as Vitonand is preferably of a material capable of withstanding temperatures of200 C. and preferably up to 300 C. The solid male die 10 should beheated up to a temperature of 200 C. and preferably up to 300 C.

In the modified construction shown in FIGURE 4 the apparatus is adaptedto the pre-heating of toe end portions of shoes. As will be seen fromthat figure substantially the same operating parts are provided but inplace of the male heel end die 10 of the previous figures there isprovided a male die 39 mounted on a fixed supporting post 40, the die 39being shaped to adapt it for receiving the toe end part of the shoeupper. The shoe assembly is presented to the die 39 in a somewhatslanted position and threaded on to the die so that the latter is causedto enter through the top opening in the shoe assembly, the we endextremity being towards the left of the figure. The operation ofpro-heating the toe end portion of a shoe by this modified apparatus issubstantially the same as described with the first embodiment, it beingobserved that in this case the first part of the upper material to beheld between the flexible band 12 and the fixed die 39 is the topportion towards the toe end and during the course of the pre-heatingoperation the side parts are later pressed down towards the sides of themale die 39. The die 39 is heated through electrical leads indicated at41 corresponding to leads indicated at 42 in FIGURE 3 used forenergising the heater in the male die 10. Both the die 39 and the die 10are conveniently formed of metal to provide for good conduction of heat.

What we claim is:

1. Apparatus for pre-heating an end part of a shoe upper comprising incombination a solid male die, heating means provided on said die, aflexible female die cooperating with the male die and formed by a bandof heat withstanding flexible elastomeric material, means mounting saidmale and female dies in positions to cooperate with one another, meansfor effecting relative movement between the dies to cause the flexibleband to embrace the male die and grip upper material between the diesfirstly at the end of the male die and then with a closing in movementat the sides of the male die whereby the side parts of the shoe uppermaterial are drawn into intimate contact with the sides of the male die,and means for applying radient heat to the upper material through theflexible band.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said means for effectingrelative movement between the male die and the flexible band lengthwiseof the male die brings the dies into gripping co-operation endwise ofthe male die and afterwards causes lateral portions of the band to movein towards the sides of the male die.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 having the mounting means of theflexible band movable towards and away from the male die and having theflexible band in the form of a loop, movable carriers to which the endsof the flexible band are anchored and means constraining the carriers tomove in predetermined paths.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3 having a cross bar movabletransversely of its length endwise of the loop shape of the band, andpower means for moving the cross bar, and having the carriers in theform of arms each anchored at one end to the appropriate end of theflexible band and anchored at its other end to the cross bar, and fixedplates co-operating with the carriers to guide them for swingingmovement about their anchorages on the cross bar to close the bands intowards the sides of the means constituted by a fluid pressure operatedpiston and cylinder device.

6. Apparatus according to claim 4 having interengaging follower andguide slot means provided between the carriers and the fixed plates forguidance of the carriers, with the guide slots shaped to cause inwardmovement of the ends of the flexible bands towards the latter part ofthe clamping movement.

7. Apparatus according to claim 6 having the guide slots formed in thefixed plates and the followers provided on the carriers and having aslide and slideway mounting for the cross bar to provide for movementthereof endwise of the loop shape of the flexible band and approximatelycentrally thereof.

8. Apparatus according to claim 7 having electric radient heatingelements mounted on the carriers outside the flexible band for applyingheat through the flexible band, said elements being curved to theapproximate shape of the loop form of the band.

9. Apparatus for pre-heating an end part of a shoe upcomprising a solidmale die, heating means on said die, per comprising a solid male die,heating means on said die,

a flexible band of elastomeric material forming a female die capable ofbeing wrapped partly round the male die to press the shoe upper intointimate contact with the male die, means mounting said male and femaledies to permit relative movement between them longitudinally of the maledie to bring them into and out of operative relationship, means forcausing relative movement to bring the dies together suchwise to cause ashoe upper between the dies first to be gripped at an end part againstan end of the male die and afterwards pressed laterally against thesides of the male die by all over pressure exerted by lateral parts ofthe female die, and means for applying radient heat to the shoe upperthrough the flexible band.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,131,837 10/1938 Fenton 12-14.42,271,682 2/ 1942 Dodge 1254.3 2,406,738 9/1946 Brophy 12-64 X 3,105,25010/1963 Kamborian et a1 12-543 3,372,414 3/1968 Arsenault 12-14.4 X

PATRICK D. LAWSON, Primary Examiner

